1. Cataclysmic cyclones 2. The nature of a storm 3. Tracking the storms 4. Dealing with data People walk past a building damaged by Hurricane Dean in Majahual, on the Yucatan peninsula, Aug. 21 2007.Photo: AP Photo/ Eduardo Verdugo See 1.7MB movie) St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans: Simulation of flooding caused by a slow-moving, Category 4 hurricane. Mark Sudduth, NOAA Aug. 13, 2004, in Bauta, west of Havana, Cuba. Hurricane Charley put this veteran of the '50s in a ditch in Cuba, then stacked some decorations on top. Charley also ripped apart roofs, downed power lines, yanked up huge palm trees and battered Havana with high wind and heavy rain. AP Photo/Jose Goitia On target! Hurricane Irene is surging up the East Coast, threatening to drench the end of summer and sending vacationers scurrying for higher ground. ORIGINALLY POSTED 16 SEPTEMBER 2004, UPDATED 2007 & 2011 Hurricanes are born over water, driven by solar energy stored in the ocean. Hurricanes, properly called tropical cyclones, can travel for weeks across the ocean, blasting islands and coastlines with fierce winds, torrential rains and swollen seas. Hurricanes can also remake land -- tearing up barrier islands and dunes while depositing sand on other beaches. But ironically, as soon as a hurricane reaches land, it starts to lose power. Hurricane Dean, seen Aug. 21, 2007 from the GOES satellite, in a radiation channel that "sees" water vapor, in other words, clouds. Photo: GOES/NOAA Hurricanes can remake history -- the Galveston, Texas, hurricane of 1900 killed 8,000 to 12,000, and practically erased the city, helping convert the inland city of Houston into a petrochemical giant. These gigantic cyclones can be even more deadly. A 1991 cyclone swept across low-lying Bangladesh, drowning an estimated 139,000 people. And hurricanes can cost. Early estimates from Florida indicate that Charley and Frances cost $20- $40 billion -- more than disastrous Hurricane Andrew in 1991. As Florida and the Caribbean bury the dead and clean up after the three unwelcome visitors, The Why Files is wondering. What's in the way of better hurricane predictions? And exactly how do these titanic storms work? There are 1 2 3 4 pages in this feature. Bibliography | Credits | Feedback | Search Megan Anderson, project assistant; Terry Devitt, editor; S.V. Medaris, designer/illustrator; David Tenenbaum, feature writer; Amy Toburen, content development executive ©2004, University of Wisconsin, Board of Regents.